Hasselblad Xpan
In 1998 Hasselblad and Fujifilm released a camera that was like nothing else. The Hasselblad Xpan and the Fuji TX-1. Other than the branding the big difference is the finish. The Hasselblad having a dark paint finish and the Fuji with a titanium finish. The TX-1 seems to age with less visible ware and the Xpan seems more prone to scratching and paint ware.
I have read that Fuji had this concept and then shopped it to a variety of partners for marketing outside Japan and to boost credibility. So, it is unclear what Hasselblad added to the mix other that name recognition. The body and lens are Fuji built. Quality is outstanding.
Operation is very intuitive if you have ever shot a manual rangefinder camera. The ISO can be manually set or use the DX feature. Aperture for my 45mm lens is f4 to f22 set on the lens. Shutter speed is a dial on the top that goes from B to 1/1000 and has an “A” for aperture priority mode. There is an internal light meter that displays a red dot for correct exposure of a red plus/minus inside the viewfinder. The off dial also give you the option of single shot, continues or self timer. Same dial allows +/- 2 exposure stops in half stop increments. Finishing off the top is the shutter button, an LED film counter and a hot shoe. On the back is a film canister window, an led display for ISO, battery, etc. and a viewfinder.
This sound like a standard range finder. It could be a Leica M7 to Konica RF or Voigtlander Bessa R3a, untill you look through the viewfinder. Unlike the normal 35mm viewfinder the Xpan presents a massive cinematic view of the world. At 65X24mm it is about twice as wide as a standard 35mm exposure. There is a button to the right of the viewfinder that switches between standard and panoramic modes. In standard mode curtains are used to reduce the film exposure and also displays a standard size frame line. In panoramic the curtains are fully open and you get the full frame lines. The viewfinder size does not change so like most rangefinders you see more than the frame lines.
My Take:
The first thing I noticed was just how well built the Xpan felt and how easy it was to operate. This is a camera that would sell today and would sell in a standard format. But the real fun was that massive wide format. I shot landscape for my first roll because it felt like the only thing that could fill such a large space. But, I’ve seen amazing street and even portrait work shot with the Xpan. Definitely a camera I want to shot much more. Feels like medium format from a 35mm camera.
My advice is try one if you can. The Xpan and TX-1 have gotten expensive and hard to find. If Fujifilm loved us, and they don’t, they would rerelease this camera.
Lens: Hasselblad 45mm f4
Film: Kodak Portra 400
